Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Video of Seven French Nationals Abducted in Cameroon Appears on Youtube

A VIDEO has appeared on YouTube of seven
kidnapped members of a French family with their abductors, who claim to be from
Islamist extremist group Boko Haram and have demanded the release of prisoners.

The video that France's
foreign minister called "terribly shocking" represented the first
images of the family to emerge since their abduction in Cameroon on February
19.

The kidnappers, claiming to be
from the Nigerian group, Boko Haram, say they carried out the abduction in part
due to France's "war against Islam", apparently a reference to French
military action in Mali.

The more than three-minute
video shows the family, including four children, held in an undisclosed
location, surrounded by at least three of the abductors whose faces are hidden.
It was not clear when the video was made.

"If you want us to
release these French citizens, quickly release all our women you are
detaining," one of the abductors says in Arabic, addressing Nigerian
President Goodluck Jonathan.

He calls on Cameroon to
release "our brothers".

At the start of the video, the
father of the family reads a statement from a piece of paper, his four children
in front of him, his wife and brother beside him.

Two of the abductors hold
weapons and ammunition, while a banner with two rifles hangs behind them.

The family, with children aged
five to 12, was kidnapped in the Northern Region of Cameroon along the border
with Nigeria while visiting a national park.

Cameroon authorities said the
family was taken over the border into Nigeria's restive northeast.

When News Breaks Out, We Break In. Minute by Minute Report on Cameroon and Africa